Shoe construction



April 30, 1946.

s. P. LOVELL ET AL 2,399,492

SHOE CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Feb. 21, 1941 O00 OOOOOOOQ} III rmmoms.

B AM i final 3 fgw /x Mw= I lotented Apr. 30, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFIGE SHOE CONSTRUCTION Stanley P. Lovell, Washington, D. 0., and FrankH. Russell,

Needham, Mass, Beckwlth Manufacturing Company,

assignors to Dover,

N. H., a corporation of New Hampshire Original application February 2i,1941, Serial No. 380,026. Divided and this application June 2, 1944,Serial No. 538,390

8 Claims.

, making process. Our invention includes within its scope the novel shoestructure herein shown as produced by carrying out the process of ourinvention.

We are aware of U. 8. Patent Nor 2,009,291, issued July 23, 1935 toFerguson and Hickler disclosing a shoe in which the integuments oflining and upper material are filled with a liquefied material latersusceptible of hardening in situ. in their invention the customarystifiening blanks are omitted and adequate stlfiness is obtained by thestiffening compound itself. overcome the practical shoemakingdifliculties and expense of the process of that patent and yet produce ashoe oi finer wearing and style qualities.

In carrying out our invention we may select any commercial shoe liningmaterial preferably in sheet form capable of being rolled or coiled.With a doctor knife or other suitable distributin means we apply to onesurface of such goods one or more lengthwise bands as a coating or animpregnation of liquefied stiflener compound. The width and positioningof our bands will vary, depending on the size and type of footwear inwhich the lining is later to be employed, For example, for a man'sstandard shoe shoemaking requirements would be best served by applyingto goods a yard wide three continuous lengthwise bands each 3%" wideleaving two central untreated bands each 7" wide and two marginaluntreated bands each 6" wide.

The doctor knife used as an applicator of the compound may be oscillatedto produce a wavy movement and thus a serrated or scalloped marsin tothe treated bands, or we may so taper the doctor knife that a smallerdeposit of compound till 50 outer intesument oi the upper. This assemblyis eiiected at the margins oi the treated areas whereby a scarf efiectis produced.

The compound used to stiffen the bands or areas may vary within widelimits. For cheaper shoes we may employ water dispersable com poundssuch as starch, dextrine, glue andsodium silicate, with or withoutmodifying amounts of rubber latex and the like; for better grades offootwear we may elect to use thermoplastic compounds of which thefollowing is typical:

Per cent Montan wax 20 Calcium resinate 20 Candelilla wax 2d Rosin 30Rubber ill For shoes of the best quality, however, we have found thefollowing to be best adapted as a stimeninn agency:

We coat or impregnate the bands with the selected stifiening compoundwhereupon the web is dried and rolled into a roll or coil for shipmentto the shoe lactory.

The shoemaker lays his patterns or dies for full-length Vamps, forexample, on the fabric in such manner that the die or pattern intrudesinto the stifl'ened area to the desired extent. For example, if hewishes to merely have in his finished shoe an and box toe he will layhis die or pattern upon the fabric to include onl the extreme tip withinthe pre-stifiened area; if he desires a normal box toe in his finishedshoe he will employ all, or the major part of the prestiflened areawithin the scope of his die.

The died-out lining blanks for the Vamps, quarters or other parts, outto include the desired stiffened area within them, we now assemble withthe upper material, such asleather, satin and the like. We prefer toassemble these in such a manner that the stifiening coating on thelining is located within the upper, that is, facing the flesh or innerface of the upper leather or the may be accomplished with rubberadhesive, paste or stitching. I

The shoe is now ready for lasting and the upper may be pulled-over atroom temperature or, in the case of tough upper materials, the forepartor rearpart may be steamed or moistened, At the secondary lasting, wheresuch is employed. steam or solvent may be used in the well-known mannerto produce complete conformability of the lined upper to the last.

' The uppers may be perforated very conveniently after stitching, asonly two plies or layers of upper material are involved, thepre-stiifened lining further serving to produce clean outlines.

Our invention is equally suitable for plain-toe or cap-toe shoes. In thelatter case the pattern is cut with exactly sufficient pre-stiife'nedarea included to match or mate with the line of captoe tip stitching.

It is obvious that in shoes made by our process the stifienerconstitutes an integral part of the lining and that the clicker-die, forexample, accurately predetermines where the supported or stiffened areain the finished shoe will be located. Further, there is no chance formalpositioning in the pulling-over machine as no slippage or disturbancecan force the stiffener out of correct location.

These and other features of our invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following detailed description of a preferredmanner of carrying out the invention as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sheet of lining fabric of our invention,showing a vamp lining cut therefrom,

Fig. 2 is a view of an assembled vamp and lining.

Fig. 3 illustrates a perforated lined vamp, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a lasted shoe in which isincorporated the lining of our invention.

The lining fabric may comprise any suitable woven textile lining fabricsuch for example as that disclosed in U. 8. Letters Patent No.2,088,158, granted July 27, 1937, on an application of Henry M. Spelman,or a similar lining fabric that may be coated on one surface with arubberized compound including vulcanizing and accelerating ingredients.This lining fabric is obtainable in sheets of any desired width andlength. To the treated surface of this fabric are now applied severalcontinuous lengthwise bands ll of stiffening compound. Two of suchbandsare shown in Fig. 1 but the number and spacing is optional and willdepend upon how the sheet is to be cut up. These bands, as herein shown,may be of the wax-resin-rubber compound of the formula given above,applied in molten condition by any suitable spreading device. Incooling, the molten band to some extent enters the surface intersticesof the fabric and in hardening becomes firmly bonded to the fabric. Theband herein shown is substantially transparent and may increase thethickness of the sheets by .010" to .012", while if forcibly strippedfrom the fabric, the band will be found to measure approximately .015"in thickness. It is dry, externally non-adherent or nonlining fabricwithout special surface treatment or with any desired sizing.

As suggested in Fig. 1 a vamp lining has been died out of the compositesheet in such location as to include a portion of the band II in thearea of its tip. Thus we form to exact size a shoe lining'part ready tobe assembled directly in the upper of a shoe and containing as anintegral part thereof a band or layer of stiffening material normallydry and hard but having a latent capacity of softening when heated.

.The vamp lining I: may now be pasted or cemented to the outerintegument it of the upper, and this of course may be of any desiredmaterial, but herein indicated as being leather. If it is desired toemploy the vamp in a perforated shoe it is desirable to cement thecomposite lining blank securely, in face to face contact with the fleshside of the vamp it and having been thus prepared the composite vamp maybe perforated as suggested in Fig. 3.

Having assembled the upper, which now includes the composite lining ofour invention, it may be pulled over in the usual manner without thenecessity of employing any separate box toe stiffener blank and thus iseliminated from the shoemaking process the entire burden of providingand handling separate stiffener blanks. For these is substituted asingle composite sheet requiring no more attention'in its preparationand handling in the shoe upper than the lining which is customarilyemployed. All danger of a misplaced stiifener blank is avoided and thelocation of the stiffened area is insured with greater accuracy andgreater compactness of structure than has ever been possible before.

Again. the operation of pulling-over, which is generally limited inmen's shoes to 250 pairs per eight-hour day, is seriously retarded bythe time consumed in picking up and placing each individual box toe inthe pocket formed in the upper, not to speak of the preliminarysoftening of these blanks. By employing our invention one operator canpull-over about 720 pairs per eight hour day. Not only does he increasehis output but the quality of his work is more uniform and, since hisproduction is consumed in matched or mated pairs, this is of vitalimportance.

When the pulled-over upper goes to the lasting operation, the outerintegument may be temporarily turned back and the composite liningsubjected to moist or dry heat so that the band it is temporarilyrendered limp, entirely plastic and adhesive. The toe lasting operationis carried out with the lining in this condition and in the lasted upperthe fine lines of the last will be reproduced with accuracy andprecision.

We have mentioned the advantage of employing our novel composite liningin a perforated up per because in this style of shoe it is particularlydesirable that no displacement of a stiffening blank should occur afterthe upper has been perforated. The novel lining of our inventionpositively eliminates this danger.

It will be understood from the foregoing discussion that thewax-resin-rubber stiffening compound referred to is but one example,although the best now known to us, of a heat-responsive thermoplastic orthermo-setting compound. The cellulose-gum-acetone compound is,similarly, one illustration of a solvent responsive stiifening compound.This may be applied to the lining fabric as a liquid solution inacetone, it dries into a nonadherent band on the sheet material, and maybe temporarily softened. and rendered adhesive in the assembled upper bybeing moistened with acetone.

The starch-dextrine-glue compound above mentioned is n example of astiiiening compound which may be applied to the lining fabric in a watersolution and which may be temporarily softened and rendered adhesive bymoisture in the assembled upper.

The various formulae above set forth are the best now known to us, butthey may be varied and other ingredients substituted without departingfrom the scope of the invention. For example, in theceilulosc-gum-acetone compound instead of ethyl cellulose we may employvinyl acetate, cellulose acetate, pyroxylin, polymeric styrene or theequivalent. For de-waxcd gum damar we may employ rosin gum, ester gum,Pontianalr, Loba, or equivalent gum substances. For toluene we maysubstitute benzol or a suitable aromatic hydrocarbon. For the acetoneingredient we may substitute ethyl or methyl alcohol, ethyl or methylketone, or the equivalent.

A lining having a stiffening band or zone of the type above discussedmay be temporarily soitened in the shoemaking process by any suitablevolatile solvent such as acetone or ethyl acetate.

While for reasons of convenience it is preferable that the applied bandsshall be dry, flexible and non-adherent, because in that case the goodsmay be rolled up, stored and handled like so much yard goods,,thesecharacteristics are not essential ieatures of our invention. Forexample, the applied bands may be normally so stiif that it is moreconvenient to handle the lining material in sheets instead of rollingit. While a normal or initial non-adherent band surface is desirable,that feature too is of only secondary importance should occasion arisethe composite lining material may be handled with suitable aeratorsheets.

The present application is a division of our prior application SerialNo. 380,026, filed February 2i, 194i, now Patent No. 2,373,404 grantedApril iii, 1945, in which the shoe herein disclosed is claimed.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described in detail certainspecific embodiments of our novel composite lining and of its manner oiuse, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

i. The process of making shoe lining blanks which may be stored ortransported in condition ior immediate use in shoe making, whichcomprises the steps of first continuously coating one entire surface ofa sheet of woven fabric with. rubber compound including a vulcanizingagent, then bonding to the coated fabric a superposed band of tiileningmaterial forming a stlfiened area and defining a limp area in the fabricsheet, and then cutting shoe lining parts from the sheet wherein theareas of the lining part destined for flexible portions of the shoe arecut from the limp area of the sheet and the area of the shoe lining partdestined for still portions of the shoe are cut from the area of thestiilened band of the sheet.

2. The proces or making shoe lining blanks which may be stored ortransported in condition for immediate use in shoemaking, whichcomprises the steps of first continuously coating one entire surface ofa sheet of woven fabric with rubber compound including a vulcanizingagent, then bonding to the coated fabric sheet a superposed band of drystiffened thermoplastic compound providing in the sheet a substantiallystiff...

ened andnormaliy non-adherent band, and then cutting shoe lining partsfrom the sheet wherein the area of the lining part destined for flexibleportions of the shoe is cut from the limp area of the sheet and the areaof the shoe lining part destined for stiif portion of the shoe is cutfrom the stiflened band of the sheet.

3. The process of making shoe lining blanks which may be stored ortransported in condition for immediate use in shoemaking. whichcomprises the steps of first continuously coating one surface of a sheetof woven fabric with a rubber compound including a vulcanizing agent,then applying to the coated fabric sheet a superposed hand ofthermoplastic stiflening compound con- 1 rubber and rosin, hardened inthe interstices of the fabric but sufficiently tenaciou so that it maybe removed as an integral band. and then cutting shoe lining parts fromstiffened and unstiflened areas of the sheet whereby the areas of thelining part destined for flexible porticns of the shoe are out from thelimp area of the sheet and the area of the shoe lining parts destinedfor stiff portions of the shoe is cut from the stiiiened band of thesheet.

i. The process of making shoe lining blanks which may be stored ortransported in condition for immediate use in shoemaking. whichcomprises the steps of first continuously coating one surface of a sheetof woven fabric with a rubber compound including a vulcanizing agent,then hon to the coated surface of the sheet a superposed band ofnon-adhesive stifiening compound having the latent capacity oitemporarily softening when subjected to heat or solvent, and thencutting shoe lining parts from the sheet wherein areas of the liningpart destined for flexible portions of the shoe are cut from unstiffenedareas of the sheet and the area of the lining 40 part destined for stillportion of the shoe is cut from tiflened bands of the sheet.

' 5. The process or making vamp linings which may be stored ortransported in condition for iediate use in shoemaklhgwhich comprises atthe steps oi first continuously coating one surface ot a sheet of wovenfabric with a rubber compound including a vulcing agent, then applyingto the coated sheet a superposed band of dry thoplastic stifleningcompound conil tag rubber and rosin and providing it normallynon-adherent layer bonded to the surface of the fabric, and then cuttinga vamp g from the sheet with a portion of said thermoptic layer includedin its toe and and the redd mainder of the vamp lining being cut fromthe unstiflened portion at the sheet.

6. A shoe comprising a single ply woven textile sheet, a first coatingco-extensive with one surface of the sheet and comprising rubber to anda vulcanizing agent, and a second coating in the torus of a bandsolidified from a liquid compris wax, rosin, and rubber and superposedon a limited area of the first coating, thus forming integral liningadapted to be worn to next to the foot and including in the same sheetrelatively flexible rubber covered areas and a relatively stid heatsoftenable area.

7.. d shoe lining comprising a single ply woven textile sheet, anunderlying coating co-extensive m with the sheet and comprising in itscomposition rubber and a vulcanizing agent, and a second coating in theform of a band solidified from composition of ethyl cellulose, gumdamar, toluone and acetone and superposed on "a limited to a oi the saidunderlying coating, thus tormin: an integral lining sdspted'to bewornnext textile fabric in a definite area. and illlin: the to the foot andpresenting in the some sheet surface interstices of the fabric, the bandbeing relatively flexible rubber coated areas and relasubstantiallytransparent, externally non-tacky.

tivelystiifneateoftenable areas. flexible and capable of being forciblystripped. 8. A shoe lining comprising 3 ply ofwoven from the fabric nsatough continuous elastic textile fabric carryinz on its fibres ambberiied sheet approximately .015" in thickness.compmmdandaeoetingintheform ofaband STANLEY P. LOVELL.

solidified from a molten mixture of wax, rosin FRANK H. RUSSELL.

andrubbenflrmiybutremonblybondedtothe

